What are most periods of the Paleozoic era named after?

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The periods of the Paleozoic Era were named for the locations, mostly in Great Britain, where rocks associated with them were found, according to the University of Oklahoma. The Cambrian Period, for example, is derived from the ancient Latin name for Wales, which has extensive Cambrian deposits.

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The later periods of the Paleozoic Era, in order, are: the Ordovician and Silurian, both named for ancient Welsh tribes; the Devonian, named for Devon, England; the Carboniferous, which drew its name from a British formation known as the Coal Measures and the Permian, which was named by a Scottish geologist after Perm, Russia. Other, post-Paleozoic periods were often named in similar ways such as the Jurassic, which was named after the Jura Mountains in Switzerland.